Ludonga donates to family after shack fire

A family of five from Kwa-Thema Ext Three, Marikana Section, is homeless after a fire damaged their shack.

A family member Thabang Mosoma, said the fire started on the evening of June 15 when the electricity returned after load reduction.

Mosoma said he was standing outside with a friend when one of their tenants walked out of the shack to inform him it had caught fire after he heard the electrical plug trip.

He said they tried to extinguish the fire; with no luck. They managed to remove the fridge from the shack to prevent the gas from exploding.

“Our neighbours came out with buckets to assist us in extinguishing the fire with water, but the flames were too strong and the fire had spread too fast.

“The blaze destroyed all our belongings,” said Mosoma.

He further added the fire spread faster because card boxes divided the rooms.

“Once the fire had caught the boxes, it was game over. We could do nothing to save the shack,” added Mosoma.

Ludonga Funeral Home came to their aid by assisting the family with donations to celebrate its 10th anniversary as a funeral parlour.

The owner of the funeral home, Jabu Tshabalala said it has been a long-term dream for the funeral home to do a social responsibility drive to celebrate their birthday.

Tshabalala said the area’s ward councillor brought the family’s situation to his attention.

“Clr Zingisile Mabhe informed me about this family’s unfortunate situation. Coincidentally, it was in line with our social responsibility drive, where we aimed to get a needy family we could assist in this ward.”

He added he was grateful that the family allowed him, along with other stakeholders, to assist with blankets, shoes and clothes.

Community leader Mxolisi Zinto said the ward councillor apologised as he could not witness the funeral home give back to the community, but he represented the councillor.

Zinto said, that as community leaders, they were doing their best to reach out to local businesses and other stakeholders to assist the family get all the help they need.

Furthermore, he mentioned having businesses such as Ludonga Funeral Home helping the community makes it more sensible to say that ubuntu (humanity) still exists.

“It is painful to see this family go through this. The mother is the only person employed, and it would be impossible for her to rebuild and purchase building materials on her own.

“As community leaders, we decided to provide a helping hand. We are determined to mobilise all the help we need to ensure that this family gets assistance.

“As the ward committee, we are willing to go an extra mile to make sure community members of Ward 111 are properly taken care of,” said Zinto.

He urged the community to assist where possible, as the family still needs windows, building materials, doors, clothes and food.

He further mentioned they will assist the family in obtaining their legal documents from home affairs through all the processes needed.

ALSO READ: No electricity leads to community protest

ALSO READ: Residents protest after a week of no electricity